Last Man Standing (Book 3): Zombie Decimation Read online

  Zombie Decimation

  A Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Survival - Last Man Standing Book 3

  Max Lockwood

  Illustrated by

  Christian Bentulan

  Edited by

  Valorie Clifton

  Copyright © 2018 by Max Lockwood

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Christian Bentulan

  Edited by Valorie Clifton

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.

  Contents

  Mailing List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  About Max Lockwood

  Also by Max Lockwood

  Excerpt From Point Of Transmission

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

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  1

  Closing her eyes as the wind whipped through her hair, Elaina Morgan wondered if she had made the right choice. As the helicopter came closer to the hospital’s roof, she thought about running away at the last moment. For all she knew, Alec was only blocks away with Thomas and Melissa in tow.

  A man in a military uniform exited the aircraft with a stern expression on his face. He walked briskly toward Elaina and stuck out his hand. She awkwardly placed her hand in his, not able to meet his eyes. A small part of her wondered if Dr. Himmler was ordered to lure her to New York after she contacted him. It could very well be a trap to get her into custody. But she knew if she could at least speak to some experts in the field, they’d understand that she couldn’t have caused the disaster.

  “Dr. Morgan, do you have all the work that we’ve requested?” the officer asked.

  She nodded, gesturing to the bag that she clutched tightly in her hand. Elaina looked out to the city below. There was no movement. If Alec and the others were on their way, she couldn’t see them.

  “Please get in the aircraft and fasten your seatbelt. I don’t think I need to remind you, but I’m going to anyway—if you try to defy orders from the United States Armed Forces, there will be consequences. Do you understand what I am saying?”

  “Yes,” she said flatly. She knew she should feel excited to leave the infected state, but she was really feeling dejected. She was about to board a vehicle large enough for all of her traveling companions. It felt selfish to travel alone.

  Elaina followed directions but was still waiting for the door to the roof to swing open, revealing an exhausted Alec. Her heart sank when the door remained closed.

  Once the helicopter was up in the air, Elaina pressed her face against the window, hoping to get a better glimpse at the city in hopes that she could spot Alec on his motorcycle.

  “If this is your first time in a helicopter, I suggest you don’t look down,” the pilot said into the headset she was given upon taking her seat in the back. “You have orders to go straight into the lab, and it’s better if you’re not sick.”

  Elaina sat back in her seat. She felt dizzy, but perhaps that was the high altitude that made her head spin at the thought of Alec being lost in the mountains again. He was becoming the distraction she had avoided for so long. Instead of pushing him out of her mind, she focused on him extra-hard in an attempt to exhaust the emotional part of her brain that grew larger every day.

  Continuing to steal glances at the world below her, Elaina gasped when she saw movement below. She saw lights on top of buildings and tiny cars traveling down stretches of highway.

  “Is everything okay?” the officer asked, startled by her reaction.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I just haven’t seen signs of civilization in quite a while. I guess we’ve crossed the quarantine line. Are people living normal lives down there?”

  The officer scoffed. “I guess it depends on how you define normal. This area is largely unaffected by the virus, but it’s far from what we’re used to. People don’t go out as much. See how few cars there are down there? That’s Chicago at rush hour.”

  “Really?”

  “People don’t go out as much anymore. Historians are already writing about how this virus will change American civilization as we know it. People are afraid to get close to one another. People don’t interact face to face anymore. Anything that people need to leave their houses for can be delivered. Anything that needs to be said can be done over computers.”

  Elaina couldn’t help but feel like the officer was blaming her. He had likely been working non-stop since the virus broke out. She didn’t blame him for not liking her.

  Before long, the helicopter was landing on a concrete square, surrounded by tall grass. Once it was safe to exit, Elaina was escorted into a massive building and led down the hall into a laboratory.

  Excited to finally get to work, she pulled out her bag and grabbed her lab notes. Before she could even put her hands on a test tube, she was stopped by a woman in a white coat.

  “Have a seat,” she said, gesturing to a small bench with half of a desk connected to it. It reminded her of something she sat in during high school.

  “Is Dr. Himmler here?” Elaina asked, growing concerned with her lack of information.

  “I think he’s on his way to talk to you while we run some tests,” she answered, looking at a chart.

  “What kind of tests?”

  “Just some basic procedures—vitals and blood, mostly. Obviously, we can’t have you spending time in our base if you’ve recently caught the virus. Of course, you look healthy, but we still have to follow protocol.”

  Elaina looked at the floor. She didn’t want to be caught in a lie, but she also didn’t want to admit that she had been exposed to the virus on more than one occasion. If they knew she had the virus in her body, she feared they wouldn’t let her work in the lab.

  She rolled up the sleeve and let the doctor take several vials of blood from her arm. When she was finished, the doctor took her vitals and scribbled down the results.

  “I’m going to send those to the lab. Otherwise, you seem to be in pretty good shape. You probably have some nutrient deficiencies, but that’s to be expected. Wait here a moment and I’ll have someone bring you to Dr. Himmler’s lab.”

  “Thanks,” Elaina said. She stared at the ceiling tiles as she nervously waited to find out her fate. She wasn’t sure how she would explain her odd blood test once it came back from the lab. Would it be better to talk about how promising her serum was in preventing symptoms or t
o just feign ignorance and plead with the military to let her work anyway?

  It wasn’t long before the doctor returned with a grim expression on her face. She sat down in front of Elaina and looked at her chart.

  “I’m sorry to do this to you, but I’m going to need another blood sample,” she said.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “I don’t know yet. Your bloodwork looks strange. It’s probably been contaminated by something in the lab. But just to be safe, I’m going to take a fresh sample.”

  “Okay,” Elaina said, offering her vein to be punctured again.

  “Like I said, it’s probably just a contamination in the lab equipment. We run a lot of samples of infected blood in this lab. Your vital signs are all within the normal range. Have you had any symptoms since the outbreak?”

  “No,” Elaina answered honestly.

  “Then there’s probably nothing to worry about. I’m just going to take two more vials from you and then I’ll send you on your way.”

  “Sounds good,” she said, watching as the dark red liquid left her body. In her mind, she willed it to come back negative for the virus.

  Once she was finished, Elaina was sent to another lab down the hall where Dr. Himmler was looking through a microscope.

  “Dr. Himmler,” she exclaimed, relieved to see a familiar face from her former life. She also felt relieved that it was not all just a ruse to get her alone in a guarded location.

  “Dr. Morgan,” he said in his raspy voice. “It’s a shame I’m meeting with you on such unfortunate terms, but it is good to see you again.”

  He looked older and frailer since the last time she had seen him. He was still the same squat man with thinning grey hair, but he looked less lively. The twinkle in his watery blue eyes had become dull.

  “Can you show me what you’ve been working on?” she asked.

  He slid a book full of notes toward her. She sat down on a stool and looked over them, his observations not too dissimilar from hers.

  “That’s just the first one. I’ve got an entire file cabinet full of notebooks here. I’ve been assigned the role of lead researcher, but there are fifteen other virologists assisting me.”

  She handed him her book and they sat quietly, flipping through pages. Every once in a while, he’d break the silence by giving an “Ahh” if she had thought of something he hadn’t or clicking his tongue in disagreement.

  “When you write here that you used a dozen eggs to bring the viruses to maturity, what do you mean?”

  “Exactly that,” she replied. “I didn’t have the technology to replicate the virus faster.”

  He chuckled. “I see the old methods still work. Tell me, did you have the chance to test your serum on any live subjects?”

  “Only a couple,” she admitted.

  Before she could explain, the doctor burst back into Dr. Himmler’s lab, this time, visibly agitated. She was accompanied by another doctor who looked frightened.

  “Dr. Morgan, I need you to be completely honest with me. Have you experienced any symptoms in recent memory? I’m specifically asking about fever, chills, and mood changes.”

  “I feel fine,” Elaina answered.

  “Well, that’s not what your blood tests show,” she grumbled, holding up a picture of her blood cells magnified with a microscope.

  Elaina squinted to get a better look. She could see the virus, but it had broken down, even further than the last time she had examined her own blood.

  Dr. Himmler grabbed the picture and looked at it, holding his glasses to get a better look. When he was finished, he raised his eyebrows and added the picture to his files.

  “That’s very interesting, indeed,” Dr. Himmler noted. “I don’t believe she’s infected, in the normal sense. Did you use any of the indicators our lab developed?”

  “Yes,” the doctor grumbled. “All negative.”

  “Well, then,” Dr. Himmler concluded, “I suggest we continue to monitor her. But I don’t think Dr. Morgan is a threat. There is no need to keep her in the isolation chamber.”

  “We have to follow protocol,” the other doctor squeaked out.

  “If you put her in isolation, there will be no chance of eradicating the virus,” Dr. Himmler said calmly. “I will watch after her. I believe there are soldiers watching her every move, no?”

  “That’s correct,” the doctor grumbled.

  “Then we have come to an agreement. Please let us return to our work.”

  The doctors left the lab, leaving Dr. Himmler and Elaina to search for discrepancies between their findings.

  “You seem distracted, Dr. Morgan,” Dr. Himmler said after she miscalculated the necessary dosage of her serum for an adult male. “Is there something on your mind? I’ve never known you to think about anything else but your work.”

  This embarrassed Elaina. She didn’t want to appear as anything but professional in front of her mentor.

  “I’m just worried about the people I was traveling with,” she admitted. “They didn’t make it back to the hospital in time. I just have a bad feeling that they need help.”

  “I understand that it can be difficult to focus when your attentions are elsewhere. I sympathize for your friends, but unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to help you. The only reason I managed to get the helicopter to pick you up is because you were already a person of interest and the government was hoping you’d eventually turn up. They’ve given me an important title but very little say in what goes on around here.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “I appreciate what you’ve done, and I don’t expect any favors from you. I’ll do better to focus. I told my friend, Alec, to try to meet me here. I just hope he gets here.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s in his best interest. He’s a smart man with excellent survival skills, I’m assuming?”

  “I’d say that’s an accurate description.”

  “Then he might be better off somewhere within the quarantine zone. It may be dangerous in there, but people are getting scared. They’re starting to shoot people who try to cross the border. It doesn’t matter whether they’re healthy or not—the border control will strike them down. He might be better off where he is.”

  Elaina massaged her temples with her fingertips. “That’s not what I want to hear.”

  “I know, but that’s reality. There’s nothing you can do but hope your friends will stand down when told to.”

  She shook her head. “Do I hold any clout here?”

  Dr. Himmler shrugged and flipped through a few pages of her notes. “I’d say so. Besides, I think the answer to this whole thing is hidden in your blood,” he said, pointing a stubby finger at the image of her blood sample.

  “Then I’m going to talk to someone who can help me,” she said.

  “Good luck,” he said, giving her a small smile. “Please be quick about it, though. We have a lot of work to do.”

  Elaina stormed out of the lab, where she was immediately stopped by soldiers guarding the doorway.

  “Where can we escort you, Dr. Morgan?” a soldier asked curtly.

  “Who’s in charge here?” she demanded, startled by her own strength.

  “Dr. Himmler is lead researcher.”

  “No, I want to talk to whoever makes the big decisions around here.”

  The soldiers looked at each other, clearly uneasy by the confrontation.

  “Let’s check if Colonel Baylor is available,” the soldier said.

  “Yeah, let’s do that,” Elaina said snarkily.

  They walked down the hall, a soldier on either side of Elaina ready to grab her if she made a run for it. When she reached Colonel Baylor’s office, she pounded on the door.

  An assistant opened the door, looking surprised to see her. Elaina had forgotten about the fact that her image had been plastered all over the news.

  “I need to speak with Colonel Baylor,” she said, trying to keep the strength in her voice from slipping away.

  “
Yes, have a seat,” a white-haired man said briskly. “I have a briefing in a few minutes. Please make it quick.”

  “When I first contacted Dr. Himmler, I requested that my travel companions be rescued along with me.”

  “I remember discussing that,” he said, setting down his newspaper. “But that was only under the condition that they were present at the time. I understand that you were separated.”

  “I think they’re going to try to meet me here. They’re perfectly healthy and deserve a chance to survive. I don’t want them to be gunned down for trying to live and rejoin me here.”

  The Colonel’s face remained stony. “Can you guarantee with one hundred percent certainty that they will make it to the border uninfected?”

  “No, but—” she started to say when she was interrupted by the Colonel.

  “You’ve made my point. We don’t have the capacity to quarantine and test blood within the quarantine at this moment. If we can’t look at a refugee and determine with absolute certainty that they won’t jeopardize the health of the rest of the country, they cannot pass. We also do not have the capacity to restrain trespassers without violence. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a matter of national security.”

  “Can you at least send someone to look for them and pick them up?”

  He shook his head. “It was enough trouble to get you here, and you have yet to prove your worth. Now excuse me. I have somewhere I need to be.”